Gatherings of people, such as meetings, are useful for discussions on many topics. These gatherings are enhanced if there is a semi-permanent, erasable method for writing down ideas, talking points, qualifications, or other data pertinent to the discussion. An example is a high school or college classroom, in which a professor will write down the main points, for example, for the lesson of the day. Other examples include sales meetings, in which salesmen or sales managers may list products and their respective advantages. Still another example is a “poster board” session common at scientific or engineering meetings. These poster board sessions allow presenters to list topics, data or data points, ideas for a next stage of development, and so forth. The media or surfaces used in these meetings may take many forms.
Surfaces that promote collaboration are well known and date back to the chalk board. Surfaces known to promote or facilitate collaboration in the modern setting include white boards, cork boards, or any other surface on to which users can write (preferably in a non-permanent way) or affix objects (also, preferably in a non-permanent way). Conventional systems, however, suffer from disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that most surfaces are not easily movable. Therefore, the fruits of the collaborative effort remain fixed in the place where they materialized. Systems allowing portability are often cumbersome. For example, it has long been the case that black boards and white boards could be wheeled into another location, but moving an unwieldy black board is often a two-person job and may result in the would-be movers determining that it is not worth the effort. Other movable systems exist wherein writing surfaces are removably mounted to a wall by way of a track system. The track system runs the length of the wall, and is thus unsightly and expensive to install. These systems also require structural support which may not be present, for example, in modern offices where walls and dividers tend to be thin and somewhat temporary. In other embodiments, black boards may be stacked vertically and use a complicated pulley-and-rope system to change boards quickly. Such systems require maintenance. Still further, if users are to enjoy the benefits of moving surfaces or panels from the wall of one room to the wall of another room, the other room needs to be equipped with the track.
In larger meetings especially, or in those with a high interest in a particular topic, board space or presentation space may be in short supply compared to the number of participants or hopeful participants. Thus, it is common for meeting sites or gatherings to furnish many such boards. Each unit furnished is typically a single board, such as a dry erase board, a chalk board or even a smart board, which may be computer controlled and capable of “remembering” what is written and even downloading the written images for later print out in a smaller medium, e.g., one or more sheets of paper. Of course, such smart boards are very expensive and may not be affordable for smaller organizations.
The other typical solution, as mentioned, is to furnish many single boards, which may then be formed in a line for longer presentations, or joined to make a straighter line, which may present topics, ideas or data in a desired sequence. One problem with this method is that it may require many boards to convey all the information presented, and the line of single boards may thus be rather long or limited by available wall space. Other solutions include the use of very large paper pads (up to sizes of 24 inches wide by 30 inches high), in which one or more person writes on the top sheet, which is then removed and taped or pasted to a nearby wall for group consideration. In the usual situation, even though the pad typically has a kraft backing, the pad is not sufficiently stiff to enable precise writing. The result can be an agglomeration of unsightly and disjointed papers spread over an entire room.
What is needed is a better way of presenting information, especially information that requires several panels or boards, such as those intended for small or large gatherings. These and other advantages of the disclosure, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description provided herein.